The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-04-26
THEIR MOTIVE ALWAYS APPA-
RENT.

and anxiety of the little gang OF men
who are posing as champions of moral
reform in Utah, all have for their in
centiVe the civil offices of this Terri
tory, and they at once proclaim their
innocence and assert their virtue. They
are doing all this for the good of the
people; they are self-sacrifcing and
self-denying; all they want is for the
people to- obey the law and become
"Americanized," when these self-as-
serted patriots will retire from the field
Of operation, content to let history con-
fer the reward for their generous ser
vices. Unfortunately for these pa
triots, their actions give the lie to
their professions. We well remember
the chief cry of dozen or fifteen years
ago. 1t was that there should b. a
secret ballot; then as now, the agita-
tors did not want the offices, far from
it; they merely desired secret ballot,
when the voters would settle all other
questions by electing men of their
choice to manage public affairs. The
secret ballot came, and the people did
not elect the patriot sgitators to any
OF the offices; on the contrary, the peo-
pie continued to nominate and elect
their friends, and keep in control of
public affairs men who could be trusted.
Hence the agltators made further sac
ridces in behalf of the poor, oppressed
people; they went on wearing them
selves out and spending their money to
redeem" community which persisted
in'being honest, quiet and peaceful and
in guarding its treasure. All sorts of
schemes were devised, not for getting
control Of the money bags, but
for saving the people from them
selves. The original Edmunds law was
not intended to hurt anybody who
would not violate the statutes of the
country; the Mormons were to be left
in sbsolute control of their affairs, and
no meddiesome adventures should in
terfere with them, so long as the poly
gamists were kept away from the polls.
The sgitstors had never thought of
the offices-all their efforts being di-
reoted towards helping the non-polyga-
mists to rule themselves politically.
However, the law was no sooer on the
books than the patriots" undertook to
have it enforced in a way that would
place them in control. They showed
how deeply they were interested in the
welfare of the people and how sincere
they were in their self-sacrifcing pro-
testations, by squealing louder than
ever when the homogeneous Mormons
continued to believe more in them
selves than in their enemies.
The polygamous Saints accepted
the situation and did not attempt
to vote; further than that, the poIyga-
mistsi accepted the other feature of the
law, and meekly subj tilted to the pun
ishment of fine and imprisonment, thus
putting it out Of the power of decent
men to complain. If they violated the
Law, they also endured the penalties,
Thich!is all that can be asked of any
body.
Yet the noble. self-sacrifcing patriots
were not happy; they were not content
over work done. In fact, they were
still in the cold as regards the plumber
in which they hoped to revel. The Of
fees and the public treasure were not
theirs. The Edmunds-T Tucker bill
which would have placed at once within
their grasp all for which they
had been scheming these many
years, was devised and rushed through
the House of Representatives
aud the oEerworked gentlemen who
wanted no Fother return for their ex-
penditure Of time, effort and money
than the consciousness that the polyg-
amists would be punished and the mon
ogamists would not become polygam-
amists, were iubiiant.. We have not
forgotten how they denied in Washing
ton and in Salt Lake that they were
scheming for the Offices, nor how they
professed only honorable, patriotic and
highly moral motives for their actions.
Nor have o. forgotten how they gave
themselves away" when the conference
committee amended the bill by provid-
ing that those who had broken no law
and who were willing to swear
that they would obey the stat
utes should still retain their
citizenship and continue to exercise the
right to control the public Offices and
guard the public treasure. The
patriots weren't working for
plumber, but when their little game was
blocked, they were fairly beside them
selves with rage and disappointment.
Now they don't want the Offices, but
they would like to hang the members of
the Utah Commission who stand be
tween them and scoundrelly scheme
10 steal the Territory blind. The
patriots" only ask that the laws be